


Joining Lockwood & Co.

by M1dn1ght_Star



Category: Lockwood & Co. - Jonathan Stroud
Genre: Bad disguises and humor is coming soon when the black market part is written, Canon until the beginning of book 4, Do not repost on another site, Ealing Cannibal, Gen, Reader Insert, Skully is stolen as in canon and the team (Lucy) wants him back, Spoilers for book 4 and before, all the major events still happen after but you’re there now, brief potentially disturbing mentions from those scenes but I mostly skipped past that, canon compliant character death, do not copy to another site, gender neutral reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-09-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:13:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 9,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26029258
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/M1dn1ght_Star/pseuds/M1dn1ght_Star
Summary: When Lucy departed Lockwood and Co. during the 4th book of the series, the greatly overworked team ended up having to bring another agent in. This person is you. How will Lucy react to seeing she’s been ‘replaced’. How will you take Lucy potentially invading or taking away your spot in the agency?
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

Y/N made their way up the path, stepping carefully over a loose tile as they approached the front door of 35 Portland Row, large box of jelly doughnuts in hand. They’d been sent to get some to fuel yet another long day’s work. It was just now turning to mid afternoon, but the streets were already much less populated than that morning. With a careful shuffling of their precious cargo, Y/N opened the black door and quickly leaned back as an energetic Lockwood flew past, rapier in hand. 

Spotting them, Lockwood grinned and waved. “Arifs not have too long of a line then? Great, we’re just setting up in the case room.” He motioned over towards the open door nearby, inside of which a sleepy George could be spotted sinking into one of the squashy chairs while Holly rifled through some papers on a table nearby.

Y/N nodded and headed into the room, leaving Lockwood to return his rapier to the basement and join them. The agency had been scrambling to keep up with the constant bombardment of cases ever since one of their agents, who Y/N had learned was named Lucy, left abruptly, and thus Y/N had been hired after an interview and some tea. The first thing they learned was not to sit in George’s special chair, something they narrowly avoided and were quite grateful Holly had warned them beforehand.

Coming from a smaller company located near the Clerkenwell furnaces in East London, Y/N had been applying to several agencies after their own Crowe & Collins had closed their doors due to a lack of clients. They’d been flat out rejected by most, with only Lockwood & Co. and another tiny company interested in their application, which to be honest wasn’t the most impressive, but it was nothing to scoff at either. Ultimately, Lockwood had been their choice, having specifically focused on Y/N’s listening Talent, which was later revealed to have been because Lucy, the one who had left, was the only proper listener amongst them. Y/N also had a decent Sight, but primarily used their Listening on cases with the agency.

They had taken up residence in the attic room of the house, amicably allowing Holly to crash on the other side of the double bed on nights when they were particularly exhausted and it wasn’t safe for Holly to return to her flat. The downstairs couch was also an option occasionally but the assistant complained of back pain after using it so sharing the bed it was.

It had been a stressful first couple weeks as an agent at Portland Row, but Y/N also could say they were enjoying their time there immensely. They’d already become good friends with the others and they really liked how Lockwood ran the company, it was greatly preferable to Crowe’s strict rules and Collins constant ‘ghost drills’ that left agents jumpy and tired.

One day Lockwood returned to the house after an outing to refill the tea stash looking a bit ruffled, and immediately called an agency meeting. Holly wasn’t at the house at the time and had to quickly catch a cab in order to make the ‘emergency’ assembly of the agents. Lockwood preceded to tell a shocking story about being cornered in one of the aisles of the store by none other than Penelope Fittes, who wanted Lockwood & Co to do a commission assignment with one of her supervisors, and had specifically mentioned Lucy, going so far as to demand Lucy be part of their team or she wouldn’t give them the commission. 

Loaded looks were exchanged between George and Lockwood and Holly, leaving Y/N feeling a bit uncomfortable and shifting awkwardly in their seat. Despite the warm welcome from the others, they still sometimes felt as though they weren’t truly part of the team. If Lucy came back, they wouldn’t need Y/N anymore and of course the others would prefer Lucy and so they would be back on the streets, looking for a job. Perhaps Holly might allow them to crash on her couch for a night or two?

Y/N was pulled from their increasingly pessimistic thoughts by an outburst from George, though they missed the actual content of the yell. Lockwood replied back just as loudly, “It’s just for one time, then we can move on with our lives again.” George mumbled something, avoiding meeting anyone’s eyes and nodded curtly before getting up and leaving the room, door slamming behind him. Lockwood frowned again, staring in an unfocused manner at the wall before sighing and turning to Holly and Y/N. 

“Are we in agreement then? We’ll get Lucy to come back for this one case as a consultant and then its back to normal. Tomorrow morning, we’ve a meeting with Ms. Fittes if she agrees.” He said, looking expectantly at the two, who glanced at each other before nodding.

“Alright, I’ll be off to go speak with her then, I’ve got her address from a friend at Grimbles Agency who passed along the business card from their case with Lucy. Do you have any plans for dinner, Hol? Might soften George up a bit.” Lockwood waved briefly and then he was gone, a whirl of pressed coat and dark hair vanishing out the front door.

***

When Lockwood returned that evening, he was in both good spirits and a contemplative mood. He seemed happy when proclaiming his success at recruiting Lucy for this commission but lapsed into thoughtful quiet whenever the conversation turned to other subjects. No one bothered to ask him what he was thinking about, you could never get much out of a quiet Lockwood, he preferred to think it all out before saying anything. Y/N had heard several stories about it when the others were in a reminiscing mood and seen it for themselves once on a case last week when Lockwood had figured out where the source was through something that he’d seen in the entry hall of the house, standing in silent contemplation whenever they had a break.

The next morning, everyone rose early, a bit nervous both about meeting Lucy again and that they were going to see Penelope Fittes herself. Y/N dressed in their best agent clothes and Holly donned a form fitting blue dress for the occasion, while Lockwood wore a nice suit. Even George had managed to change into some slightly less stained clothes than usual, an occasion all on its own.

Y/N was quiet as they traveled to Fittes House, trying to prepare for the tension and upset that was sure to happen. The four stood by one of the columns in the Fittes Collection, the one that held the bloodied nightdress from Cumberland Place, a famous relic from the beginning of the Fittes Agency. Conversation was hushed and infrequent, with nervous shifting and attempts to seem calm much more frequent.

Minutes passed and so did the time Lucy was supposed to arrive, the seconds ticking by until Y/N was about to suggest perhaps the girl wasn’t coming after all. But that was not to be, as footsteps echoed off to one side, making their way closer and then everyone looked up and there she was. Lucy Caryle. The one who had left and the one who had made it possible for Y/N to get this position, only to return and threaten it once again.

She looked tired and apprehensive herself, clad in all black with a long coat and knee-length skirt, with a fake smile on her pale face. Lucy stopped in front of them and Lockwood moved forward, beaming widely and appeared much more relaxed than he had an hour previous. He greeted her warmly, and she responded briefly before turning to George, whose response to her greeting was much colder than Lockwood’s had been. Lucy and Holly exchanged a few tense, fakely polite and painfully sweet sentences and then Lucy noticed Y/N and her eyes widened.

“Oh, who’s this? Is it the supervisor Fittes wants us to work with from her agency?” Lucy asked, seeming curious.

Lockwood cleared his throat awkwardly, at a loss for words, quite an event if George was to be believed. “Err, this is Y/N. They work as part of the Lockwood and Co. team now. Quite proficient and has previous experience before their agency went under financially.”

Lucy seemed to be stuck between shock and hurt for a moment before she let out a quick breath and said calmly, “Right then, hello Y/N.”

Before anything more could be said, an attendant appeared, reporting Fittes was waiting for them. This served as a good distraction the situation was temporary de-fused, pushed back for another time as everyone hastily gave a once-over to make sure they look alright before following the woman to the reception room where Penelope was waiting. Inspector Barnes was also there, someone Y/N had heard much of and only met once briefly in passing since becoming a part of Lockwood and Co. 

Barnes gave Y/N an appraising look and they seemed to pass some test as he nodded and gave a small smile as Y/N sat down in the chair beside him. He was wearing a slightly crumpled looking suit, while Fittes had an elegant velvet mauve dress. Coffee was offered and then passed around as pleasantries were exchanged, mostly between Lockwood and Penelope while everyone else tried not to seem bored.

The case was explained in more detail now and Y/N shuddered a bit at the description of a cannibal murderer ghost. And one that mostly manifested in sounds, which meant that they and Lucy would probably be doing a large portion of the work together, something they were most definitely not looking forward to. After the meeting concluding, the group went their separate ways, with Lucy vanishing into the crowd outside Fittes House after a tense conversation about when and where they would meet next and Lockwood delegating tasks to the members of the agency. Lucy had made a good point about the time, Y/N had to admit. It was her attitude they disliked, being so standoffish would hardly be a good thing during the case. George started off down the street towards the archives and Y/N hurried to catch up. There was a lot of work to do before 2 o’ clock rolled around.


	2. Chapter 2

When George and Y/N arrived at the Cafe Royale, the arranged meeting place for the team minus whoever the supervisor would be from Fittes, everyone else had already turned up. Holly mentioned she’d ordered some tea and cakes and George gave a grateful nod before sitting down, piles of papers in hand. Y/N had helped to find quite a large amount of information about the Guppy cannibal, much of which made them feel nauseous. 

Holly seemed to agree by the look on her face as George seemed to enjoy a bit too much going through all the grisly details of the case. Everyone was hungry enough that it didn’t manage to put them off the food however, so the cakes were swiftly demolished and Lockwood deposited a tip on the table before the group got up to head to Ealing, where they would be meeting up with the representative from Fittes.

There wasn’t quite enough room in one cab for everyone, so the team ended up having to split up into two groups for the trip. Y/N ended up, fortunately in their opinion, with Holly and Lockwood, while George and Lucy sat in uncomfortable silence the entire time.

When they arrived in Ealing, it was much later than hoped, seeing as the traffic had been forgotten in calculating the time. The cabs dropped the agents off at the end of the street and left, returning to the streets for new customers. Waiting outside of the house was a tall, thin man with fiery hair and freckles, clad in a silver coat and with an expensive looking rapier at his belt. The others didn’t seem pleased to see whoever it was but Y/N thought they seemed nice enough at first glance, though his annoyed scowl at the other members of the team was a bit off putting. A mutual hatred then?

Lockwood grinned at the man and called out a friendly greeting that was most likely as a joke if Y/N had to guess, to which the man, apparently named Quill, responded curtly.

“I don’t want to be here with you anymore than you want to be here with me. It’s a job, put all your feelings aside for later, otherwise you might end up putting one of your precious team members in danger.” Quill said, noticing Y/N for the first time. “Oh, who’s this?”

“Y/N of Lockwood & Co., nice to meet you.” They answered, extending a hand politely with a friendly smile. 

Quill looked intently at the hand for a moment before coming to some internal decision and taking it, returning a small smile. “Quill Kipps, Fittes supervisor. Pleasure to meet you, as well.” Behind him, Lockwood’s brows were raised incredulously and Holly seemed amused at Lockwood’s reaction, coming to greet Quill in a genial enough manner which was quite a difference from the chilly greetings to George and Lockwood and the polite but cold hello to Lucy.

Introductions over, Quill retrieved the key to the house from his pocket and tossed it to Holly. “Let’s get on with it, then. We’re burning daylight.” He said, turning to walk up the driveway to the porch. The house in question was white and unnervingly cheerful looking for the events that had happened so long ago in the house and now repeated in echoes every night.

A small circle was created with a lantern inside at the insistence of Lockwood on the porch and while this was being done, Y/N stood nearby and took a drink of their water canteen. Lucy and George were peering in one of the windows and talking quietly, while Holly assisted Lockwood with the chains for the circle and Quill stood a bit awkwardly to one side. Y/N made their way over to him and engaged him in some light-hearted conversation to pass the time and he gave them a grateful look. It was a bit amusing how Y/N managed to win over the people that didn’t like the rest of Lockwood and Co. 

Circle finished, Lockwood gave a call and everyone gathered up, gear in hand and filed into the house, except for Lucy, who stayed behind, messing with something in her backpack. Y/N assumed it must be the skull who had featured in many of the stories and Lucy wanted to converse with it, away from the eyes of Kipps and Y/N, who Lucy wanted to keep unaware of the skull’s existence. Which, well, Y/N did know about it but Kipps didn’t, so it was a valid concern.

***

Inside the house, Y/N unconsciously moved closer to Holly and Quill nearby. Unlike the bright and clean exterior, the inside of the building was faded and dusty, with an unpleasant smell of abandoned furniture and mold. Something about the place was unnerving, though Y/N didn’t pick up anything supernatural yet.

Further down the hall, Lockwood was laying out another circle of iron in the kitchen and Holly moved to help him again, leaving George to carry the rest of the extra equipment bags by himself. Y/N went over and picked one up, pleased to see Quill follow their lead and take one as well. Lucy appeared just as they were putting the final ones down out of the way in a corner of the hall that was also easy to access from various locations in the house and unpacking candles and placing an iron circle on the landing. She moved to unpack her own bag and the agents settled, taking their own separate paths around the house and jotting down notes about temperature readings and such. 

Y/N felt sympathetic for Kipps, who was forced to remain in the kitchen, his own talents no longer of any use to him. However, they were also a bit jealous of the hot chocolate he was drinking. Perhaps they stared at it one two many times as they went past, but Quill seemed amused and got up from his seat, making another and passing it to them without a word.

“Thanks.” Y/N mumbled, blushing a little in embarrassment but was too happy about having their own drink to linger on that long and quickly drank the mug, placing it down and moving back into the hall. The house wasn’t really that large and so no one was too far from each other no matter where they were positioned in the rooms. From near the front door, Y/N could clearly hear the conversation Lucy was having with Kipps about returning to work with Lockwood and Co. all the way in the kitchen. Frowning, Y/N bit their lip and suddenly had to restrain the urge to cry, it was truly annoying sometimes how easily they teared up.

Shoving the feelings away deep inside them, Y/N went to join the others who were all gathering in the living room to discuss what they’d found. Candles flickered along the wall, creating the illusion of being within a cage. Everyone shared the same findings, not much, just some cold spots and the usual undertones of psychic disturbance, faint since it was still around sunset.

George made some hurtful remarks towards Kipps and Lockwood swiftly stepped in, stopping them before they could get too upset. Emotions were dangerous in a place like this. Lockwood also showed several physical marks left by the cannibal when he was still alive, both of which only emphasized the enormous size the man had been. The belly mark was mostly just a bit disgusting, but the handprints, those really distressed Y/N and Holly. Kipps and Lucy didn’t look amazing either, both were paler than usual and stood stiffly, bodies on alert.

It got darker and everyone separated again to various locations where they would watch for any supernatural phenomena. Lockwood started in the basement, while Holly would take the ground floor with George, leaving Kipps with the upstairs and Y/N moving between them to check in and stay with Kipps in the meantime, as he was more vulnerable and less likely to pick up on things. Lucy chose to be mobile as well, following any noises she heard since the group had been warned the manifestation was mostly sound focused. Y/N wasn’t really looking forward to the kinds of sounds that would probably go along with what had occurred. Just thinking about them made their stomach churn.

Lucy appeared from where she’d been investigating the bedroom and passed Kipps and Y/N on the landing, letting them know there had been nothing yet. A few more minutes passed in silence after she went down the stairs and then there was a call from her, asking where everyone was. All the agents responded from their various locations and Lucy made a distressed sound, before calling out that something was going on in the kitchen.


	3. Chapter 3

The rest of the agents hurried quickly towards where Lucy was standing, gaze locked on the kitchen door. Lucy had whispered quickly about hearing whistling and other noises and how the kitchen light wasn’t visible anymore, something that everyone, minus Quill who was still upstairs and wouldn’t be able to see anything anyways, could see for themselves. Y/N shuddered as they also heard the chopping noises and tried very hard not to think about what was most likely being cut up.

Lockwood moved forward suddenly and flung open the door. The noises stopped abruptly as soon as it swung open and the kitchen looked peaceful, just how they had left it. Lockwood commented on how the ghost was most likely playing tricks and offered everyone some chocolate and a tea break. This calmed Y/N’s nerves somewhat, a good thing in this house, as emotions were powerful fodder for a malevolent spirit.

After this, everyone returned to their stations and Y/N popped up to visit Quill and let him know what had happened. Though he attempted to seem unbothered, they could tell he really appreciated it, hating being kept out of the loop though he couldn’t actively participate anymore. George and Lucy both came up the stairs and nodded curtly as they passed the two on the landing, vanishing into the bathroom and then the bedroom, seemingly investigating some sound they’d heard. Y/N didn’t pick up on anything, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t there.

Hours passed with occasional sounds and visual phenomena and everyone met up once again to report what had happened, which wasn’t that much. It was not long after things got a bit more exciting, something everyone knew was going to happen. It was nearing midnight so the ghost was at its strongest. If anything big was going to happen, it would happen soon.

Loud voices came from downstairs and a shrill cry from Holly, Y/N moved to join them, leaving Quill safe in the circle on the landing as they rapidly went down the stairs, finding everyone else gathered in the dining room discussing some things they’d just seen. George had seen bones in the basement, Holly dishes on the table, and Lucy something cooking on the stove. Lucy looked distressed and requested that they go outside to get some fresh air, something that the rest were quick to agree to, eager for a break themselves. After a false alarm where everyone thought Kipps had screamed but was just an echo from the victim, the group including Quill piled out the front door onto the porch, gratefully gulping in lungfuls of the cold night air. They discussed that the entire house was most likely part of the haunting and Kipps made an offhand comment about drawing the ghost out, which of course Lockwood jumped on immediately and decided that they should go and pry around in the kitchen, which appeared to be the focus of the sounds and such so far.

Y/N thought that was one quick and easy way to go about angering Guppy, but while they worked prying up floorboards and digging into gaps between cupboards there was only unsettling silence, a heavy kind of quiet that pressed down on them and left everyone subdued. Lucy moved to a corner at one point and was talking quietly to the Skull, suddenly looking up and saying, “We’ve got company.”

Everyone paused in their actions, listening intently and then they heard it. A repeating click-click-click, one that got louder as time passed. Heavy footsteps passed overhead and Guppy moved towards the stairs, coming ever closer. Lockwood called out tauntingly at the ghost as he whacked his crowbar into the cupboard again. Y/N gave a shuddering sigh as they spotted a dark shape at the end of the hall, Holly letting out a small cry of horror.

Lucy called out from the other end of the kitchen, having spotted something in the corner by the floor. Everyone moved to look and spotted something gleaming dimly in cavity behind the pipe. Holly’s attention moved back to the door, where a giant hand was now pressed against the glass. “Guys, he’s here.” She said urgently, backing up a bit, rapier in hand.

Lockwood moved forward suddenly, throwing a salt bomb in the direction of the opening door before going through it himself, closing it behind him. Everyone stared in shock for a moment before hurrying to pry the Source out of the wall. George managed to pull it out, a jam jar with, was that  _ teeth _ ?! Holly dropped a silver net frantically over the jar, glancing back towards the hall where Lockwood had vanished just in time to see the door swinging open. Y/N tensed, worried that had not been the Source, but relaxed with a relieved sigh when it was only Lockwood, injured but overall okay.

Gathering their things back into the bags, everyone retreated into the porch, happy to leave the horrible house behind. George had a firm grip on the jar of teeth, which was then taken possession of by Kipps as he left in a cab to the furnaces, vanishing with a tired nod and wan smile to Y/N and Holly. Lucy also elected to go with him as her flat was apparently in that direction. Lockwood ate some chocolate before everyone piled into one taxi, squeezing in with their equipment that just barely fit. The ride back to Portland Row was quiet, disrupted only by the cab driver’s occasional attempts at casual conversation. He seemed to realize no one was in the mood and lapsed into silence after the first couple tries.

Back at the house, there was a organized chaos as everyone deposited their equipment and washed up quickly before falling into their respective beds, exhausted and more than ready to just pass out and sleep for days. Holly opted to return to her flat for once, so Y/N had the bed to themselves and was happy to stretch out more than usual, it was more comfortable for them to sleep like that then curled up tightly.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is anyone even reading this? lol idk I'm mostly writing this for myself so whatever

Life at Portland Row got back to normal routine fairly quickly the next day and Y/N was able to put Lucy out of their mind for the time being, as it seemed this really had just been a one off. They’d not heard anything about the former agent since returning from the case last night, well apart from Holly asking if an invoice had arrived yet, which it hadn’t, as it so happened. Of course, this tenuous peace was not long to last, as that very evening it was broken by none other than an injured and pale Lucy appearing at the door after dark.

Lockwood had been downstairs with George and so he had answered the door and brought her into the kitchen while George went up to fetch Y/N from where they were reading in their room. Looking shaken, Lucy related the events of her day ending with the ghost of Harold Mailer and being chased and attacked. She then seemed to realize Y/N was in the room and had just heard her talking about the skull. 

“I already know.” Y/N said, cutting whatever Lucy was about to say off. “I’ve known about Skulls for ages now, honestly. We have bigger things to worry about right now than that, I’d wager.”

A tense conversation later, it was decided Lucy would sleep on the couch tonight and a more permanent plan would be decided on the next morning, seeing as her old room wasn’t really an option anymore. And Lucy had declined to share with Y/N as Holly sometimes did.

Tired, Y/N rubbed their eyes and yawned a bit before gratefully downing the mug of tea George handed them. The conversation turned to the artifacts that they had now discovered were not all being destroyed and Y/N paled some as they realized Guppy might still be out there. That was not someone they wanted to interact with again.

Lockwood proposed a potential plan to contact Flo to sneak into the relic market and also attempt to regain possession of the skull, which everyone could tell played a large role in Lucy’s focus on the matter. Y/N had yet to meet Flo but had heard about her much the same as they had heard some about Lucy. Then, after it was determined that Lucy would be a client of sorts for the agency, everyone said their goodnights and vanished to their respective beds, and in Lucy’s case, couch. Holly would have to be filled in the next morning when she arrived.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is for the Skull, who is ghost reading this.. 
> 
> [Tell me I'm funny, I want attention lol]

The next morning began early for the agents of Lockwood & Co, who had a client meeting not long after sunrise. Y/N moved quietly past where Lucy was still asleep on the couch and into the case room where Holly was just placing down a delicious looking cake on the table and Lockwood and George were staring contemplatively across said table at a young boy, who introduced themselves as Danny Skinner.

There was a creak at the door and Lucy appeared awkwardly in the doorframe, joining the group in the room after Lockwood insisted she come and sit with them a couple times. Danny told them all about the frankly implausible events going on in his hometown and the Creeping Shadow he mentioned was particularly fascinating and incredulous at the same time for Y/N. They’d never heard of anything like  _ that _ before.

In any case, they managed to noncommittally agree to possibly going down to check it out sometime in the near future and usher the kid out of the house without any outright violence, though Danny seemed close to attempting to give Lockwood a whack at one point.

***

Lockwood had an idea for their other current project and popped out to go search for Flo, returning with a satisfying look and a faint smell of rotting garbage and water. His mission had been successful and he’d managed to bribe Flo into giving a few of them a hand in sneaking their way into a relic market, which would fall tomorrow evening conveniently. 

In the meantime, Holly and Lockwood took a trip to go collect some of Lucy’s things, as it wasn’t safe for her to return and she’d need some clothes and such for her stay at Portland Row. George, Holly, and Lucy whipped up some spaghetti and cake for dessert and George told the group about his research that he had been doing on the spread of the Problem over the years.

It was also, somewhat single handedly by Lockwood, decided that Lucy and Lockwood would be the two to attempt infiltrating the black market and he solemnly led them up the stairs to retrieve sources that they could use from the boxes left by his parents that had never been unpacked. Lucy picked a crate and Lockwood opened it, revealing feathery capes lined on the inside with tiny silver links. Y/N was fascinated by the spirit capes, they were beautiful and also functional, the metal would help keep away ghosts.

Lockwood also discovered a photo of his parents when they were younger, just after their marriage, and the mood turned even more solemn. Their leader tried to distract them by turning the subject to their disguises for tomorrow, but everyone could tell he was not with them entirely, thoughts far away. 

Surprisingly, Lockwood’s proposed disguises weren’t all that outrageous this time. Y/N had heard quite a few stories of all the misfortunes his attempts had attracted before and was a bit glad they weren’t going themselves, despite the halfway decent disguises of the evening. They did find Lockwood’s wig amusing and Lucy looked hilarious in their opinion.

Unsurprisingly, this expedition ended in disaster and failure to retrieve the skull. However, it was still a win in most of their eyes as they had discovered the spirit capes, which could be a huge asset for them. Lucy had also discovered that a man from the Rotwell Institute had been there, high up in whatever scheme was going on with the black market Sources, which was both disturbing and exciting. On one hand, that alluded to one of the biggest agencies being largely involved in illegal activities that went against their entire motto. On the other, they had made progress in this mystery of what was going on with the Sources that were not being destroyed as they should.

The rest of the group was deep in a discussion about something they had found during their case at Aickmeres which Y/N was unfamiliar with, and so they stared out the window and drank their tea. The sun was slowly rising up through the sky and the streets outside were becoming moderately busy now that the night was gone. Lockwood asked Holly about where Rotwell Institute had properties and then mentioned that Fittes had invited them to meet her at the Orpheus Society. Now  _ that _ was something Y/N had heard about before, George had shown them the goggles and filled them in on what they’d learned so far. 

Clearly, the same thought was on everyone’s mind as they eagerly accepted to go, heading out later that morning minus Holly who was looking into the Rotwell facilities. The group was greeted at the door of the Society’s building by an elderly man who introduced himself as the secretary of the group, leading them to a reading room where Penelope Fittes was waiting. George engaged him in conversation about their society after the man had offhandedly mentioned knowing Lockwood’s parents, to which Lockwood got a deep in thought look on his face and was unusually quiet as the secretary and George talked, only interjecting once. 

They arrived at the reading room and found Fittes comfortable in a chair gazing at the fireplace. She looked up as they arrived, as impeccably groomed as ever, and greeted them politely before skipping any sort of pleasantries and staring straight at them, offering in a more demanding than questioning way that Lockwood and Co become part of Fittes Agency. Y/N stared at Penelope, eyes wide, not having expected that to happen. They didn’t really like the sound of that, hopefully the others felt the same way and wouldn’t want to join Fittes.

Lockwood politely declined and the group watched, still in shock a bit, as he managed to maneuver through the rest of the meeting and also discover that Kipps had quit Fittes. The group hastily left and uneasily glanced at one another before returning to Portland Row. Holly passed Lockwood the list of buildings she had compiled and he stared at it without saying anything for a long moment before thanking her and moving to gaze out the window. 

Y/N and George filled Holly in while Lucyy paced in front of the door, seemingly upset by Fittes remark about her rejoining the agency, which she hadn’t and wasn’t going to, right? Y/N felt themselves beginning to get nervous again but were distracted by a sudden racket as George picked up the ringing phone and was able to turn Danny, as that was the caller, down when Lockwood suddenly turned from the window and took the phone, saying they’d be down there tomorrow.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had a bit of writers block but finally finished this chapter and have plans for the next. We see some conflict between Lucy and Y/N, will this resolve or grow?

Everyone knew that Rotwell Institute facility down the road from Aldbury Castle had everything to do with Lockwood’s sudden enthusiasm for the case, but well, it was quite a good opportunity to snoop around and investigate with a valid cover and reason to be nearby, so no one objected to heading down the next day. 

George went off to the archives to research and Holly went down the street to Mullet’s for fresh supplies, while Lockwood went on an errand and Y/N went on a partial errand themselves, one that they would have done part of anyways. Holly had passed over information on the location that Y/N was a bit concerned over how it was acquired, but that didn’t stop them from showing up at the door to a flat in London and ringing the bell. A few moments later, a surprised looking Quill opened the door, inviting Y/N in after a minute of silence. 

“Err, I heard about you quitting Fittes. I wanted to give you my congratulations and also ask how you were doing.” Y/N said, gazing at where Kipps had settled on the couch. 

“Alright, I suppose…” Quill said, frowning somewhat. “I don’t regret it at all. Staying at Fittes was slowly killing me inside.”

Conversation then turned to the case in Aldbury Castle and Kipps agreed to come along, planning to meet them at the station the next morning. He perked up especially at the mention of being able to use goggles to see ghosts again, something Y/N had argued in favor of with the rest of the team.

***

The next day dawned sunny and everyone journeyed to the train station a few hours after sunrise. Quill was waiting for them on the platform next to a couple bags of supplies, wearing a subdued but stylish outfit, at least in Y/N’s opinion. He seemed somewhat excited and was full of energy that Y/N hadn’t seen from him before. The train was boarded without much event and Kipps settled down in a compartment with Holly, leaving Y/N to wander from Lockwood, George, and Lucy’s own compartment in order to speak with George over some of his research.

Lucy gave Y/N a glare as they were discussing an old newspaper article with George and made a snippy remark that swiftly led into a verbal fight, as Lucy had apparently been suppressing some nasty feelings about the new member of Lockwood and Co. Y/N was brought to the point of tears at a particularly horrible remark and left the compartment swiftly, closing the door roughly behind them. Lockwood was frowning at Lucy and seemed moments from yelling at her while George gazed after Y/N in concern.

When Holly noticed Y/N’s state when they returned, she swiftly enveloped them in a hug and Quill did a halfway decent attempt at helping comfort them. The rest of the trip a crossword from the paper Kipps had brought with him to read was used to occupy themselves and at one point George came and visited them to finish talking with Y/N and also reassure them that they most certainly did not agree with anything Lucy had said and that they would never kick them out and cared about them as a friend and part of their mismash of a family.

Y/N gave him a wan smile and thanked him, feeling tired already and it wasn’t yet 10 am. They managed to doze off for about half an hour at one point leaning against Kipps who according to Holly had briefly panicked and then tried to act calm. Lockwood found this amusing when he himself came to visit their compartment and took a picture of a scowling Quill and a sleeping Y/N. Lucy was the only member of their group who didn’t visit, which was probably for the best after what had happened. Either way, it was only an hour or so more before they arrived at their destination and piled off the train, large bags in hand and rapiers at their sides. From what they’d heard about the place so far, it didn’t seem safe even during the day.


	7. Chapter 7

The alert state Y/N was in allowed for them to sense Lucy approaching at least a minute before she arrived to where Y/N was standing, leaning on a fence post outside the Old Sun Inn which the group had set up in as their home base for the evening. The first thing the agents had done apon arrival in Aldbury Castle was have a look at the supposed carving of the Creepiing Shadow, which George quickly dismissed as an eroded figure of an angel during the Last Judgement. Then they had been steered over to the Inn by an energetic Danny Skinner, inside which the remainder of the group were now drinking lemonade and settling into their rooms.

It had quite a problem trying to figure out sleeping arrangements but eventually a choice had been made. George and Kipps shared the room with twin beds and Lockwood took the cot, while Lucy and Holly claimed the double bed room. Y/N had joked about staying in the storage closet, but Holly had insisted they could squeeze three people in the bed and that they would be exhausted by the time they got any sleep at all so it wouldn’t really matter at that point.

Y/N turned to look at Lucy, who seemed both uncomfortable and guilty. They waited in silence for a little while before she finally spoke. “Err, I just wanted to apologize for earlier. I didn’t really mean anything I said, I was just angry and felt upset because you seemed like you’d stolen my place in Lockwood and Co. You hadn’t though, it was my choice to leave and it isn’t fair for me to blame anyone but myself for the consequences of my actions.” Lucy said, gazing earnestly at Y/N.

That was...surprisingly mature of her. “Alright. Forget it, I’ve forgiven you.” Y/N replied gruffly.

The two stood together outside the Inn for a few more minutes before they were joined by the rest of the group. It was unanimously decided by the agents that they would spend the afternoon collecting information from the town’s residents and then tackle the Inn’s ghost first thing that evening. Kipps was offered the goggles to try on by George and looked ready to burst into tears when he realized his ability to see ghosts was returned, albeit temporarily, to him. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I changed some things from canon, most notably the ghost scene, as I figured with more people, at least one of them would be near enough the stairs to stop him.

As darkness fell upon the town, the few people who had been around all vanished into the safety of their homes, leaving the team of Lockwood and Co to make their way back to the Inn. They had left their heavier gear there but were still armed with rapiers and iron filings. A quick dinner had been eaten earlier and now it was left to sit in silence in the old front hall to wait for the ghost of the Inn to appear. The old grandfather of Danny had appeared and gotten in the way several times, poking around and watching suspiciously, as he viewed ghosts as a scam and refused to believe they existed at all. As such, agents were shameless tricksters and he wanted to keep an eye on everyone. Eventually, however, he retreated to his bedroom and hopefully wouldn’t return again, though he was obviously not asleep as footsteps could be heard walking back and forth upstairs.

The Shining Boy appeared and we were all sitting alertly, watching it. Y/N was closest to the stairs, having volunteered to ensure the grandfather didn’t cross the line in the case he did come downstairs again, which proved wise as he fumbled loudly down the stairs and caught the attention of the ghost as he tried to turn on the light switch. Feeling a bit guilty for manhandling the man, Y/N managed to stop him until the ghost had been contained, after which the old man shouted angrily but in a hushed tone at them, as upstairs the other two were sleeping. Lockwood managed to placate him thankfully, leaving the rest of them free to retire to their rooms to get some sleep. It would be a long day and an even longer night tomorrow.

First thing the next morning, the source was retrieved, having been decided unanimously to leave until morning with the Reverend Skinner interfering. A small set of rags and bones were discovered under the floor, dug out by George and Quill while Holly watched carefully just in case the ghost tried anything as it was still early and Lockwood and Lucy helped Y/N arrange and sort out supplies for the day. Danny Skinner had come downstairs and watched wide-eyed as the bones were tucked away in the silver net and volunteered eagerly to show them around the rest of the village for several potential ghost sources.

Danny showed them the church first, where the Creeping Shadow had been spotted by a young girl. Unfortunately, she had died and they couldn’t talk to her themselves. Y/N frowned, sad to hear about so many young people dying in the town before Lockwood and Co. had come. Rotwell was horrible to ignore them like that, especially as they were right next door. It was almost like they knew what was going on and just didn’t care…

Lockwood and Lucy vanished up the hill into the woods, following the path some Rotwell vehicles had passed by on a few minutes previous, leaving Holly, George, Y/N, and Kipps to continue the ‘tour’ with Danny, which quickly devolved into slightly hysterical people all trying to talk over one another and share their stories about ghosts haunting the town. Holly quickly took charge and calmed them down, having them come to Inn in a orderly fashion to give their stories and then Kipps and I wrote down details while George did what he did best and marked them on the map. Lucy and Lockwood returned just as the last person, a woman insisting there was a Lurker in her bathroom, left. Their eyebrows raised at the sight of the map, which was mostly red at that point, with several marks of black.

As the day progressed, everyone exchanged out and added their supplies to their rucksacks and belts, preparing for the night outside with an experienced and organized routine. Y/N thought they could most likely do it in their sleep at that point as they strapped a couple of salt bombs to their belt before turning to pick up some chains. 

Everyone had just gathered around the map to discuss the night’s prospects when a car sounded outside and the team glanced up to find none other than Steve Rotwell in the doorway, all gleaming teeth and fine clothes. He proceeded to gaze almost hostily at everyone but mostly Lockwood and spew some underlying threats hidden in barely polite words before leaving in a displeased manner. Lockwood grinned and announced they were definitely going to poke their nose around at the facility now and honestly, Y/N wasn’t even surprised anymore. The man had been acting pretty suspiciously and of course Lucy wanted her precious Skull back.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel a bit like I'm rushing through this, at this point I just want to complete it and move on

The night was full of hard work clearing the town of the ordinary hauntings, after a wait until it was later where Quill was excited and moving about in the front room of the Inn, exclaiming every time he saw a ghost out the window. Kipps, Y/N, and Lockwood were one team, while George, Holly, and Lucy formed the other, parting ways to tackle the area. Y/N’s took care of their ghosts in quiet, organized manner and returned to the inn, making it back before the other group. Kipps was rambling on about the ghosts he’d seen to Y/N while Lockwood was writing something in his notebook.

Lucy commented on the atmosphere of the town being like Aickmere’s and the bone glass and Y/N shuddered, not at all eager to run into something like what they’d heard about. Lockwood rearranged teams, this time placing Quill, Holly, and George together while Lucy, Y/N, and him would go look for the source of whatever was causing the disturbance. Lovely, just what Y/N had always wanted to do.

Their search took them up the hill and by the woods, where Lucy spotted something down in the graveyard below. Y/N had to bite back a cry at the enormous size of the thing, large and misshapen, just as Danny had told them. The Creeping Shadow had returned and the dead rose from their graves as its trail of smoke touched their sleeping forms, translucent and racing after its form as it disappeared down the lane. The three agents gazed at each other in shocked silence before as one, they scrambled back down the hill, rapiers clutched tightly in hand. They needed to find the others.

***

Lucy and Lockwood filled the others in when the returned, bustling into the taproom and Y/N mostly sat quietly, thinking. Quill was also finally let in on the secret with the skull and Lockwood announced their imminent invasion of the Rotwell Institute in an hour’s time, passing around hot chocolate while they waited. Lucy and Holly seemed to be getting along well and Lucy even offered Y/N some chips, which Y/N took with a quiet word of thanks. 

When it became time to go, everyone filed out into the darkness of the night, George with wire cutters in hand and the rest with their rapiers tucked in their belts and faces dim in the pale light of the moon, thanks to the handiwork of Holly and her makeup skills.

The trip to the Institute was quick and silent, thankfully uninterrupted by any ghosts, though quite a few could be spotted in the trees. The hill above the complex was a good place to pause and gaze at the facility down below, guarded by faint ghosts of Viking warriors on the field around the floodlights and buildings.

George expertly cut the fence after the group had managed to get closer and then everyone dropped to the ground swiftly as Holly alerted them to the fact someone was coming. They passed by and then one at a time everyone wriggled through the gap in the fence, careful not to catch themselves on the sharp wire. The agents turned towards the left, as Lucy and Y/N both agreed the psychic hum was louder in that direction. Some Rotwell men came outside and the group had to rush inside a door in the side of the building, hoping they wouldn’t burst into a room full of people.


	10. Chapter 10

Y/N breathed a sigh of relief as their entry into the building neither set off alarms or ran straight into Rotwell scientists. The room they had entered looked to be some sort of lab, with tools scattered around indicating the scientists might return at any moment. There were trapped ghosts everywhere, subjected to everything from being shocked to being boiled. Lucy didn’t look too happy and was staring at one that was being thrown around inside a centrifuge.

George spotted a box of cigarettes on one of the tables and waved them excitedly in everyone’s faces. “These are the same as the ones from Aickmeres. We’re dealing with the same people here.”

Kipps directed their attention to another room, where the walls were lined with various weapons, among them a horrifying few of the ghost bombs that Y/N remembered vividly from the carnival several years ago. 

Holly looked near tears as she looked at the one Lockwood was holding. “Oh my god, I can’t believe-” She swallowed roughly, her usual composure vanished in the face of this trauma. Y/N and Lucy exchanged a look and patted her on the shoulder, while George frowned at Quill and Lockwood, who were now arguing over whether or not they should leave now or try and sneak into the other big room they hadn’t been in.

Their argument was cut off as footsteps sounded and everyone dove for cover. Two scientists went past and Y/N caught a glimpse of Lockwood and then Lucy dashing down the hall, not what had been the plan. Sighing, Y/N helped Kipps fish George out from under the table he’d gotten stuck on and exchanged a glance with Holly.

The others all followed the two down the hallway, after a bit of an argument with Quill and loading up on weapons. The scientists made their way past again, so they had to wait for that, but then they managed to get down the hall and slid behind some crates only to see Lockwood and Lucy vanishing into a giant iron circle filled with whirling shapes.

George cried out in surprise, horrified and everyone else stared wide eyed. What were they doing? Were they dead? The Rotwell people returned at that moment and it turned into a full out battle with flares and salt bombs flying everywhere thanks to George’s terrible aim, definitely not being used as they were supposed to be. Y/N winced at a particularly bad aim that almost took out their box.

About ten minutes later, Lucy and Lockwood came out of the circle, looking exhausted and dripping water. George was still flinging weapons everywhere and causing chaos and most of the scientists had been either hit or run for it at that point. Rotwell lunged at Kipps and then Lockwood and Rotwell fought it out with swords, resulting in Rotwell tipping into the circle after a well placed foot by Lucy. A giant flare was deposited with a timer and everyone legged it from the building, just making it to the hill before an enormous explosion went off, leaving the facility in flames.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And its done :)

DEPRAC of course came to investigate the incident and so Lockwood and Co chose to stay out of sight for most of the next day, catching up on some sleep and lying around. Lockwood and Lucy made an attempt at telling Barnes what had really been going on but he only gave them significant looks and spoke over them, telling them to keep it quiet and pretend they hadn’t been involved.

There were a few more, faint ghosts hanging around Aldbury Castle but those were swiftly dealt with and the townspeople were effusive in their thanks, which Y/N felt a bit guilty about seeing as they hadn’t done as much as they thought the agency had, but more indirectly they had still been responsible for the drastic change and as such the group didn’t think twice about allowing everyone to believe it was all because of their work the previous couple nights.

Lockwood and Co, of whom Lucy and Quill seemed to have become a part of without any spoken agreement again, and without losing Y/N their job, returned to London and settled into the regular routine of line as an agency again. The events of the night at Rotwell remained heavy on their minds, but it was a nice break from it to recuperate and gain some energy back. Holly had the teams on lighter cases for the next week or so.

The Skull had been retrieved and also introduced to Quill and Y/N properly, with a lot of faces and rude comments. Y/N could hear the Skull faintly but not so much as Lucy, which was fine with them. It wouldn’t be all that pleasant constantly having to deal with the sarcastic words of the ghost. 

Lucy returned as a permanent member of the team and stayed with Holly in her flat as the previous roommate had chosen to move to another region of London in order to be closer to their job. Quill and Lockwood became dubious roommates, but seemed to get along alright surprisingly. George was left in peace in his untidy bedroom and Y/N still had the attic bedroom to themselves. After a bit of awkwardness, Holly, Y/N and Lucy resolved their differences and the team became close and a lot like an odd, mismatched family that seemed as if it wouldn’t work well but somehow did.


End file.
